Barras Bridge and its long Newcastle story
MOTORISTS travelling into Newcastle city centre have been facing major delays.
The Chronicle reported last week how work is finally under way on a £10m road revamp first announced two years ago.
The work has been dubbed the biggest shake-up of Newcastle’s roads since the Central Motorway took shape in the 1970s.
The plans involve major work at Barras Bridge, St Mary’s Place, Percy Street, Great North Road, Claremont Road and Queen Victoria Road.
Proposals include improved pedestrian crossings and wider footpaths, with the introduction of bus and cycle lanes and a remotecontrolled traffic system to manage city centre congestion.
Like much of Newcastle, this area is richly layered with history.
Barras Bridge was, indeed, once a bridge which carried the Great North Road over the Pandon Dene, which was one of several streams that used to run through Newcastle and are now covered.
It is thought the intriguing name ‘Barras’, originated from the barrows or burial mounds of lepers at Mary Magdalene Hospital which once stood nearby.
Coming up to date, Prof Mark Tewdwr-Jones of Newcastle University’s school of Architecture, Planning & Landscape is one of the region’s foremost planning experts.
He said: “Looking out from the university, it’s a building site, but historically, Barras Bridge spanned
the tree-lined Pandon Dene that once cut through the city.
“The dene ran from north to south, passing where the Civic Centre is today, with Pandon Burn - at its broadest part 42 metres wide - finally flowing into Tyne.
“Much of the dene was still there well into the 19th century, and some of it survived into the 20th century.”
He added: “The road layout we have here today is different to what was originally envisaged.
“The Haymarket might have had a double-deck carriageway, which would have separated the university from Northumberland Street.”
Looking at the work going on in the city centre as a whole, Prof Tewdwr-Jones believes it represents the biggest change in transport ethos for 50 years.
“We’re moving from a position where the emphasis was on the car to one where - with for example the introduction of more cycling lanes - it’s on having a more ‘liveable’ city centre.”
And speaking of roadworks at Barras Bridge, the improvements going on today aren’t by any means the first.
Back in 1801, in his history of Newcastle upon Tyne, John Baillie wrote: “This bridge, over a steep dean, was formerly narrow, ill built, and in dark nights dangerous to passengers, especially on horseback. Of late it has been widened about double its former extent, with a flagged foot way on each side, and is now made exceedingly convenient.”